<p>Lots of kids make verbal commitments as juniors because they find a school they really want to attend and the coach is offering them a spot. The sooner the kid verbals, the sooner the coach stops recruiting other kids for that position. An athlete has to acknowledge that while they are keeping their options open, the coach is as well. For athletes, the letter of intent is the only binding document. My son committed as a junior and was told that from the day of his verbal on, his scholarship would be taken care of, even if he got injured and could not play. (I realize this is a verbal promise and not one legally enforced or required by the NCAA) And, sure enough, a kid at his college verballed early, broke his leg while a senior in high school, and never ended up playing a minute in college. He is a senior now, finishing up his free ride, which he got because he committed early. I have watched this happen at a number of schools. My son committed as a junior because his dream school offered and he knew that even if the coach changed or he got injured that he wanted to attend that school. Everyone has their reasons.</p>
<p>The stupidity of replies so far is spectacular. Minority recruits abide to the same academic index as every single Ivy League student. Every school has a different AI scale but the Ivy League has a floor minimum every year. If you are truly recruited by an Ivy League school you will learn all of this. Good luck to all of you that have been good enough at a sport, and had the academic profile to pass Ivy standards. To the rest of you, keep assuming Ivy athletes are "stupid."</p>
<p>Big Man: I guess my first comment from reading CC for awhile is that each kid's situation is unique to some extent in the athletic recruitment equation. What might be right for one won't be for someone else. That being said, number of reason's why she verbally committed already. First, she knows the coaching staff very well already and really, really likes all of them and, importantly, trusts them(have been at the institution for over ten years and aren't going anywhere). Secondly, how do you turn down an offer from a top three school(hate stupid ratings but one of the ivy's all agree is top three)?D loves her sport but no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Her education is THE most important thing. Finally, recruitment lists fill up!!Her team sport gets five spots. Already there are two kids committed. Down to three spots left (and , as I have said, I have explicit trust in this coaches word)For the world class athlete, perhaps you can sit back and wait but if you are simply elite, you need to understand how the process works (also helps this is my third,and last, thank goodness, kid going through this process)</p>
<p>While I believe that the Ivy colleges will apply the AI to sports like crew and squash, it should be pointed out that there is not an official Division I NCAA championship in Mens Rowing or in Mens Squash (but there is for women in both). </p>
<p>As for lacrosse, this is a very minor sport when considered on a national scale. Only 57 colleges play Division I men’s lacrosse and very, very few play south of Durham, NC or west of the Alleghenies. Of these 57colleges, only 7 were ranked last year in the Top 50 of the Directors Cup standings (U North Carolina, Duke, U Virginia, U Maryland, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State). When you consider the fact that not a single college from the PAC 10, the SEC, the Big 12, Conference USA even fields a Division I men’s lacrosse team, it is pretty clear that the great majority of colleges nationwide with good athletic programs are not playing men’s lacrosse. </p>
<p>With regard to the AI, sleph above is correct in pointing out that there is a floor for the Ivy colleges. This floor is presently at 171. Different Ivy colleges will employ different practices in different sports, eg, men’s ice hockey at Cornell or Harvard are favored while Columbia does not even field a team and will thus focus some of their marginal athletic recruits in other sports. </p>
<p>As far as the difficulty of the reaching the AI minimum level, this is certainly above the general standard for the NCAA, but it is a lot more attainable than some may realize. For example, using the CC calculator, you find that a GPA of 2.8 in a class of 300 with test scores across the board of 560 (CR, Math and the 3 SAT IIs) will produce a 171 score.</p>
<p>nightsky,</p>
<p>All good reasons to verbally commit so early. Congratulations! In your daughter's sport is it common for coaches to get verbals so early or is her school unusual in that respect?</p>
<p>Bessie, </p>
<p>I think Ivy situation is a little different than at other D-1 schools since no scholarship is involved. But you are right, lots of different situations out there.</p>
<p>Riverruner, I took needhelpfast's comment in post #5 to mean that an athlete at the AI <em>floor</em> level probably needed to have another recruitable characteristic, in addition to very high sports ability. I didn't take it as a statement that URMs have low AIs (which would indeed be offensive). While he might be right, from everything people say about athletic recruiting, it seems that the coach's need and the athlete's ability to fill it is what really counts.</p>
<p>The kid I know who got a likely letter from one of HYP this year did so for a lilywhite non-team, non-school "sport" that costs about $20K per year to participate in at a high level. The kid is also very bright. (The mysteries and ironies of college admissions...)</p>
<p>By the way, sleph, unless I missed something, I didn't see anyone but you using the term "stupid" in this thread...</p>
<p>Beware of athletic promises. I know many kids who were recruited and "shoe ins" who did not get an offer of admission. A lot can happen between junior year and time of admission.......Please don't respond that it would never happen to your son/daughter/self. The kids I am talking about would have said the same thing. It's great to be recruited, but it is not an offer of admission, that comes from the admissions committee.</p>
<p>HPG90: if you look at my first post, it states that admissions makes final decision. will be nervous until admission letter arrives. HOWEVER, what exactly would you have my daughter do? Absolutely GREAT school,loves school, loves coaches, knows list gets filled. Let me ask you this: if a junior non athlete was asked by a prominent professor who had juice at the admissions office to commit to a top rated school and he could help get her admitted, what do you think the response would be by many on this board.Of course there are no guarantees but what would you have her do?</p>
<p>Fact is that in my D's sport, I have watched the migration of of coaches to the u16 level (sophomores) from the u17 level (juniors). The scouting starts there and recruitment at 17s. Now that is a generalization. Sure there are seniors who are discovered but that is becoming the exception. Maybe you don't like it but that is the deal.</p>
<p>If the worst was to happen , would pick ourselves up and figure out next plan. But simply telling me the worst can happen doesn't really help.</p>
<p>nightsky,</p>
<p>Until your D has her offer of admission in hand, she should continue to pursue all other opportunities. She should simply be honest: "Ivy X is my first choice, but if I am not admitted, I am interested in your school." Tell Ivy X the same thing: "You are my first choice, but I am going to talk to other schools until I get your offer of admission in my hand." This is a standard path for a recruitable athlete to take.</p>
<p>nightsky, hang in there. If your child wants this goal, she'll do everything in her power to make it happen, and it most probably will. We were in similar circumstance, and once my daughter found her match and got ahold of the application, she wrote with passion about who she was and what she wanted. The drive that carries your daughter in her sport will carry her through this process, if it's the right place for her.</p>
<p>I don't know how well this would apply in every case, but a kid at my school got a .25 to Princeton to play football and he is an absolute dumbass. He has a 3.8 but only because about half of his credits are weight training and the other half he cheated his way through.</p>
<p>Anyone know for certain how is Academic Index calculated now with the addition of the Writing Component on the SAT. Are Math, Critical Reading and Writing considered equally now?</p>
<p>We heard that for good schools some sports indices cover for others. Therefore the index you need for football, basket ball may be lower than for soccer or lacrosse. So it would depend on your sport what you should have in terms of an index. The coaches should know and will usually tell you. Also it can vary within sport if you are close. If they get a very bright recruit, they can get one who might just miss the minimum score by a little.</p>
<p>"If they get a very bright recruit, they can get one who might just miss the minimum score by a little."</p>
<p>Yes, this is true. There are minimum AI scores that entire recruiting classes have to meet, but I don't think there is a minimum score for individual players (it is just the average of all the incoming recruits). I know this becuase the crew coach at an Ivy asked two of my friends to retake the SATs after they had already gotten likely letters and been accepted ED. He said that if they got a higher scores, it would allow the coach to recruit kids with lower stats for RD.</p>
<p>Regarding the AI calculation:</p>
<p>On a recent college tour I learned that there is an ACT/SAT conversion table so that the ACT can be used in place of the SAT in the formula if it results in a higher score.</p>
<p>
[quote]
For example, a student with a 3.1 grade-point average and just over 1,560 out of a possible 2,400 on the SAT would register roughly a 171 on the Academic Index, the minimum score allowed by the Ivy League for athletes. </p>
<p>Two former Harvard assistant coaches, Bill Holden and Lamar Reddicks, said they adhered to even tougher standards under Coach Frank Sullivan. Last seasons team, they said, had an average of 206, the highest in the league by a significant margin.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
Ben-Eze, a native of Nigeria, has yet to receive what is called a likely letter from the admissions office, a written assurance that a player will be accepted, because he has not attained the 171 index minimum. </p>
<p>Like all of Harvards applicants, none of Amakers recruits have been admitted yet.</p>
<p>But Max Kenyi, a 6-3 shooting guard from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., and Keith Wright, a 6-7 forward at Norfolk Collegiate in Virginia, said that they had each received a likely letter. They were well below index levels that the previous staff members said they had adhered to.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>In</a> a New Era at Harvard, New Questions of Standards - New York Times</p>
<p>Now that several Ivys (Yale, Brown, Penn) will accept the ACT alone in lieu of SAT plus 2 subject tests, does anyone know how this affects calculation of the AI for athletic recruits? Up to now the AI has been based 1/3 on the SAT or ACT, 1/3 on the subject tests and 1/3 on the CRS. Without subject tests this will undoubtedly change. Has anyone looked into this?</p>